Maximum Ride Is Dead And Gone
by Mocha Iggy's Last Name Here
Summary: Max has gotten her expiration date, and everything has fallen apart for the flock. Now with Max out of the way, an old friend has thought that the flock will be easier to catch... Rated T for some language and, if you want to count it, ultra mild gore.
1. Finding Out

**A/N: Okay, this is a oneshot of Max finding out she has an expiration date coming up really soon. R&R!**

I couldn't help but let tears stream out of my eyes when I saw it.

The mirror hanging in Anne Walker's bedroom was showing me the one thing that would actually surprise me. I'd been dealing with surprises for years, and you'd think I'd get use to having things spring up totally unexpectedly. But this? This was different.

I read the numbers aloud of my expiration date out loud, craning my head to see what they said. I tried to rack my brain for today's date, when I realized I was going to die _tomorrow night_. I was a day away from death. More tears started streaming out of my eyes, and I sat down on the edge of the bath tub

How would I tell the flock? Would Fang be able to take charge? How would he take it?

How would _any_ of them take it?

This was bad. Mainly for the flock. I had been taking care of them for years, and now... I would be gone. Dead. And they would have to see my body, if I died in front of them. I didn't want them to have to go through that. There was no way to avoid it though. I stopped my tears, trying to figure out an easy way to go through with this. There wasn't anything I could think of, the flock was going to have to do with this...

Wait. Unless...

I got up off the edge of the tub and walked into my room. The window was already unlocked, so I pushed it open to have cold air blow at my face and mess up my hair. I took a deep breath, and I sat on the edge of the window. The one way I could make this easier for them would be to run away. That way they wouldn't have to see me die, which was enough to make this easier.

Then I thought if I should leave a note or not. Should I tell them why I left? Or should I lie and say something else, to make them feel better?

One more tear dripped down my cheek, and I grabbed a pen and some paper. I was going to leave a note.

_Dear flock,_

_I am going away, and I'm not coming back. The reason?_

_I feel like I shouldn't tell, but if I don't, you guys might think_

_up the wrong idea that I ran away because I didn't like you guys._

_But I do. I love all of you. Let's just say I'm leaving to ease the pain..._

_For you guys. Please don't look for me. This will all be easier if you _

_let me go. Please listen to me._

_From Max._

By the time I finished writing it I was sobbing again. I carefully placed it on my bed, and then sat on the edge of the windowsill again. I leaped forward, letting the wind catch my wings. What I would do would be to go to a forest far away from me. I would stay there, and hope the flock never finds me. It would be better that way.

"Bye, guys. I'll miss you." I whispered, closing my eyes.

**A/N: Okay, this was very dramatic, but I planned it being that way. **


	2. Author Note

**A/N: Okay, guys, this isn't a chapter. But someone asked for a sequel/another chapter, so when I have time I'll make this longer. Not right now, though, because I barely have any time left to stay on the computer. So, yeah. Another chapter is on it's way! Be happyful people, and keep reading please! And review, because reviews make the world go round. ^_^  
**


	3. The Flock Knows

I slept through the night. Well, almost. I couldn't stop thinking about the flock, and what they would be doing. Now it was morning, with the sun barely above the horizon.

I rubbed my hands together and breathed on them, trying to keep them warm. I had flown down to the first forest I saw, which took about three hours to get to, even with my super speed power. I was a little happy that I would be far away from them, it meant that it would be less of a chance of them finding me as long the stay with Anne.

While I was trying to stay warm, I thought of what the flock would do after they read the note. Would Fang take them away? Would they stay an Anne's? Or, would they dissobey my note and try to look for me? I hoped that they would be okay, and tough this out.

And then I thought of how I would die. How _did _they kill you when it came to your expiration date? I laid back against a boulder behind me, thinking about how it worked. I closed my eyes, starting to feel tired from not enough sleep.

Or was this...?

Slowly, I felt my strength drain away. I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker.

The last image I saw before I died was the flock, all smiling at me.

***

Fang POV

I didn't get any sleep last night, all because of Max's note.

What the hell was she talking about? I didn't know whether I should go look for her or not, and if I should tell the flock. I was the only one who had read the note, _and_ the only one who even knew she was gone. The flock had fallen asleep before Max left, so they didn't know anything. But I had gone in to check in on her, and, well, I found the note.

I got up out of bed and walked down stairs, but no one else was awake yet. Except for Anne, who was watching TV.

"Oh, hey Nick." She said, giving me a quick glance. "Is anyone else up?"

I hesitated, thinking about if I should tell her. How would _she_ take it? I mean, she hasn't known her that long. She probably wouldn't take it that hard, unless she got attached quickly.

"Anne, Max is gone."

She went silent for awhile, and then after a minute or two she flicked the TV off. When she set the remote down, the sound seemed to echo off the walls of the room.

"_Gone?_ What do you mean?" She asked, turning around.

"Gone. She left a note on her bed saying she was leaving." I said quietly, making sure that if any others of the flock were awake they wouldn't hear. "Do you want to read it?"

She was quiet for another minute again, and then nodded her head. "Yeah."

I quickly walked back up the stairs, Anne following closely behind me. Then I saw Nudge walk out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, hey guys." She made out through a yawn. "Is Max up yet? I need to ask her something, and it's been bugging me for awhile now..."

I bit my lip, and looked over at Anne. She gave me a glance to, and nodded her head. "She should know."

"Know what?" Nudge flicked her eyes between me and Anne.

"Just follow me."

I walked into Max's room. I had left the note exactly where she had set it, and when Anne saw it I could hear her take in a deep breath before she leaned over and grabbed it. I watched her as she scanned her eyes across the page, and I could tell she was handling every word like a stab. Nudge's eyes widened as she read over her shoulder.

"She's really gone." Nudge whispered, and then she burst out sobbing. She whimpered and Anne started crying silently, just as Angel and Gazzy walked in. Nudge looked over them, her eyes bright red, and she tried to say something. They didn't understand her, though, because she was still sobbing.

"What? Nudge, are you alri-" Then she froze, like she already knew. She must of read Nudge's mind, because she burst out crying too.

***

Eventually, everyone found out. Me and Iggy weren't crying, but we were sitting perfectly still. Nudge and Angel were sobbing into my shoulders, and Gazzy was choking and coughing, like he was trying to keep back from bursting into tears.

Finally, I let a couple tears flow down my cheeks.

**A/N: Okay, I don't know if that was too out of character for Fang or not, so sorry if it is. Review please! But don't try to be all flames, try to be constructive!**


	4. Leaving Anne

**A/N: Yay! I just finished one of my stories, Max Attack, so now I will be able to update quicker. R&R!**

I knew that since Max was... gone now, I had to take lead. So, my first choice was to leave Anne's. For good.

So, to make it less of a chance that Anne would catch us leaving, I did it in the middle of the night. After Anne had tucked everyone in and went to her own bedroom, I waited about an hour or so for her to go to sleep. Then I crept out of my room and shut the door quietly.

I walked over to Angel's room. She was cuddling Total and Celeste, and had her eyes closed. I shook her shoulder gently, and she opened her eyes.

"Wha'...?" She moaned. "Oh, hi Fang." She tried to smile, but she couldn't really. She was still really sad, and I could see dried tear tracks down her cheeks. "What do you want?"

"I need you to get a message to everyone. Except Anne." I whispered. "Tell them to get everything they need, because we are leaving. I'll get some food, but you guys go outside, behind the barn. Got it?"

It took her a second to process what I said, but then finally she understood. "Uh, okay..." She closed her eyes to tell everyone else what we were doing. I crepted out of the room and walked down to the kitchen, bringing my empty backpack with me. I carefully opened the cupboard, making sure it didn't creak, and then took everything that would be easy to eat; some potato chips, apples, carrots, pretzels, you get the idea. Then I grabbed a six pack of diet Coke that Anne had told us never to touch, and stuffed that in with rest, too.

Then I grabbed a couple water bottles and filled them up. I didn't have anything else I needed to bring, so I ran to window and hurled myself out, unfurling my wings. The flock had already made it behind the barn when I got there.

They all looked at me with tired faces. Iggy was resting his head against the side of the barn, looking like he could fall asleep right then and there. I nudged him and he looked up at me.

"Okay guys, so we need to get as far away from here as possible. I don't want any chance of Anne finding out we left and then calling the cops, it would cause too much chaous." I announced as I shifted the backpack higher on my shoulders, so it wouldn't get in the way of flying.

"Where are we going?" Nudge asked through a yawn, sounding more like 'wha are weh goin?'.

I hesitated, not really sure. "Away from here." I said finally, after a couple of minutes pondering. I took a running start and then took off into the cold, crisp air. The sky was a shade of dark blue, ad I knew that I would blend in with my dark clothes. Good, no one will notice us.

***

I checked behind me, to see if everyone was still there. We had been flying for about three hours, no breaks. It was still dark out.

"Oh my God, where's Iggy?!" Nudge suddenly exclaimed.


	5. Master B

**A/N: Dun dun dunnnn! Iggy is gone!**

In a panic, I turned around. Angel, Gazzy and Nudge were following behind me, but they slowed there wings, looking around for Iggy.

"Iggy?!" I called out, my voice echoing in the night. I started circling the area frantically, scanning the sky for a sign of Iggy. But there was only four figures in the sky; me, Angel and Gazzy. I pulled my black wings against my back and started loosing altitude quickly, and I landed on the ground with a slight _thump_. There was a feild with a few trees scattered around in it, but no Iggy. I ran around, calling out Iggy's name.

"Iggy! Iggy! IGGY! IGGY, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

***

Iggy POV

I woke up, kind of in a daze. I groaned, and tried to sit up, while trying to remember what just happened.

"Ah!" I cried out. What was that? I moved my wing, and felt it again. There was a horrible, sharp piercing pain in my right wing. I could feel something hot and sticky running down my feathers, and the area where it was coming from was extremly sore and was throbbing. I bit my cheek to keep from crying out.

Had I been shot out of the sky? What was going on? My arms and legs were tied up with rope, from what I felt. I moved my wings a little bit, to see if I could feel anything around me.

Then I jumped up involuntarily, and landed down on the metal ground with a thump. My back started hurting, too.

"Don't move. You will see Master B soon. " Something said in a mechanical voice. I flinched as I jumped again, and I realized I was in a truck.

"Huh?" I asked groggily. Master B...?

"Don't move. You will see Master B soon." It said again, but this time from my left. It was the same mechanical, robotic sound, but it was almost human in a way.

Deciding against fighting whatever these were, because of my hurt wing, I tried to close my eyes and maybe get some rest, but there was to many thumps from the road.

***

Something grabbed my arms, and my feet. They lifted me up and started walking somewhere. Oh, crap, this would be about time where I should be fighting. I started struggling against there grip, but even against me they were super strong. I started to loose hope.

I could hear the slding of a glass door and then the robots or whatever they were threw me down on the ground, and I hit my wing against the ground. Hard.

"Master Batchelder, the target has been captured, sir."

**A/N: Ooh, that's what I like to call suspence! Oh yeah! Please review, people!**


	6. Blood On The Grass

I couldn't see anything, but I heard a chair turn.

Jeb. Freaking Jeb had just ordered these robot things to capture me.

_Jeb._

"One? Only _one_? Why didn't you get the rest?!" The familiar voice of him sounded out in my ears.

"Sir, the prey were faster and this one was the slowest and had a higher chance of being caught-" The wolf like but mechanical voice started, but as cut off.

"And you shot him! You are _not _suppose to damage the merchandise!"

"Sir, there was no other way-"

"Quiet! Return to your charging chambers, you worthless Flyboys. _Now." _Though the voice sounded like Jeb, his attitude and tone wasn't the same.

Then, there was a couple of quick footsteps as the Flyboys or whatever **(A/N: Remeber, they don't find out about Flyboys until the 3rd book so they're new to Ig) **returned to their 'charging chamber'.

"Iggy."

"Jeb." I said bitterly, glaring at where the voice came from. Then I heard him chuckle. I can't believe I actually trusted him at a point, actually considered him a parent, thought he was one of the best people alive...

But still. Now was now, and it was telling me Jeb was a lying and backstabbing bastard with it's second example. The first was him returning to work for the School and ditching us.

"Oh, Max. She was a strong, powerful leader. A shame she had to die. But, good thing for us, now she can't protect you and we can capture you and the flock easier."

I tried to come up with a snappy come back but nothing came. I just sat there, kneeling and head down facing the floor.

"What do you want?" I finally asked/spat.

"Iggy, you really don't know how important you and the flock are to the School. Max is gone, which means the expiration dates on the others are going to come soon. And, we _need _more information on you. All of you. This was we can make more avian hybrids, more efficient ones. Even though your flock was the best subjects created, you are_ failures_. We need better, more obeying, more loyal subjects." He said calmly, probably thinking he had everything under his control.

After another minute of me trying to say something sarcastic, Jeb clicked a button or something. "Bring the specimen to lab seven, start the tests _immediantly_ before the rest of them show up and mess everything up."

"You bet your ass they're going to come!" I yelled. "And they're going to fight and make you wish you've never been born!"

Then there was shuffling of feet as Flyboys came into the room.

"Get up." It demanded, but I stayed sitting. "Get up!" It yelled, and then forced me by grabbing my shoulders and pulling me up. It pushed me down into the hallways, and I prepared myself for whatever they were going to do to me.

***

Fang POV

We had stopped calling Iggy's name. Where was he? We still didn't know, but one thing for sure was that he wasn't around here.

"Wait, Fang!" Nudge called from across the feild. My heart skipped a beat. Did she find him?

"Yeah?" I was already running to where she was, and then I stopped in my tracks at what I saw.

"You don't think that's..." Nudge said, pointing to the grass infront of her.

The grass was soaked in blood. There was a couple of Iggy's feathers in it, too. I gulped and bit my lip. _Shit._

Gazzy and Angel made their way over to us and then gasped. I looked away, and then I thought of what must of happened. Iggy had been shot out of the sky, and then someone took him. The School.

The flock knew what we had to do. Iggy was at the School, and we had to go get him.

**A/N: This chappie took about three days to write because it went through so much editing, because I either put to little in at one point or too much. But, here it is! Review please!**


	7. Max!

**A/N: Okay, be prepared. This chappie is painful, tricky, mysterious and probably the biggest cliffie ever made! I dunno' though, you review and tell me. R&R! Sorry it's so short!**

Iggy POV

I was strapped down on a table. The cold metal made me shiver, and then I felt hands start strapping me down around me ankles, wrists and mid stomach.

"W-what is the fir-first operation, sir?" A female voice asked, stumbling over her words.

"Blood test. Basic stuff. You can do it, right?"

"Uh, ye-yes, sir. Right away s-sir."

Then there was some shuffling of papers and clangingof metal. From what I heard, the Whitecoat was probably an intern and very clumsy. I shivered, more worried that the intern was going to mess up and kill me somehow than someone succesfully giving me an extremly painful test. I was trying to stay calm, and I was doing a good job at it. Fang and the others would be here soon. I wouldn't have to stay that much longer.

A sharp pain hit my upper-arm, and I flinched. Then there was a little bit of a pulling feeling as the needle drew my blood. I flinched the tiniest bit, knowing I've dealt with worse.

Then a door swung open, and a blast of air hit me.

"Ah!" The intern jumped back, pulling the needle with her and tearing my skin a little._ Ow... _The hot blood dripped down my arm, and I bit my lip.

"Iggy, I'm here! C'mon, let's _move it!_"

But this wasn't Fang's voice. Or Nudge's, Gazzy's and Angel's.

"_Max?!"_


	8. Max! Part 2

(You'll Find Out) POV

I opened up the door to the room to find Iggy on the table, strapped down and having a blood sample being done

"Iggy, I'm here! C'mon, let's _move it!_" I yelled, throwing myself at the two Whitecoats. They both went down super easily, because of my increased strength.

"_Max?!_" Iggy asked, seeming both happy and surprised.

"Uh, I'll explain later." Alarms started going off as I unstrapped Iggy. "We just need to get the heck outta' here, before the Erasers get here!"

Iggy got up, and I took a peice of a cotton swab and gave it to him to hold up against his cut. I was able to catch my reflection in the glare of light on the metal table. I did look _exactly_ like Max... same hair, same eyes, same shape of nose, etc. Hopefully I could pass off as her in the flock.

I pulled Iggy out of the room and took off down the hallway. This was the first time I had escaped from the School. I mean, I was with Ari a lot, spying on Max and the others, but apparently they didn't need me anymore since Max was dead. Now I was just another experiment.

Yeah, I'm Max 2... or at least that's what Ari calls me, and Jeb. Everyone else called me experiment 142. My plan was to get out of here and stay with the flock, and hopefully pass off as Max. Because if I stayed with them then I would be protected from the School. See? I get away from here, and I stay safe. It's a perfect plan.

"Wait, Max, are you with the others?" Iggy asked from behind me, trying to keep up with me.

"Uh, no." I pushed open some metal doors and kept running. Just around the corner now...

I skidded around the corner, and to our luck no one was there. I could see the doors ahead to outside, where we would take off and hunt down for the others. So far, so good.

Cold hair blew my hair around as I ran out the doors. I unfurled my wings, again exactly like Max's, and took off into the air. Iggy followed.

"Okay, Max, why did you leave in the first place?" Iggy asked, after a couple minutes of flying. Ah, crap, I hadn't thought about my reply to that...

"It... wasn't me. It was... the, uh, School. They kidnapped me. And left that note." I lied, my heart beating really fast. Was he believing this?

"Oh." Was all he said back, and I couldn't tell if that was good or bad for me.

Okay, but whether it was good or bad, the next step would be to find the flock.


	9. The End

**A/N: Okay, since I'm going through a horrible case of no ideas, I am going to end this story soon. There is two other stories I'm writing, and I have to end one so I can work on one at a time. It is SO much easier that way. So, this one is going to end. Sorry if this seems like a bad chappie, I might have rushed it, but I tried not to. R&R! **

Fang POV

I didn't know if we would have much luck with this, but it was our only hope to follow.

We were following the trail of blood on the grass, which became less and less noticeable as it went on, but with our hawk vision it was easier. I prayed silently that he was okay.

The grass was ruffled, like they had been dragging him. Eventually it came up to tire tracks, where they had probably shifted him into a truck. I frowned as the tire tracks led into a muddy road, where it was harder to tell where the tracks were.

"Let's keep going." I announced to the rest of the flock, jogging along side the mud road. They started jogging, too, and we kept going for the next hour or so.

***

The tracks led off to a smaller, sandy road that veered off into another field. And then, in the distance, I saw the white concrete building.

_The School._

My eyes narrowed, and I could feel the others following my gaze. Without warning, I took off full speed down the road and then a blur up ahead came into view. A really fast blur, and I didn't have anytime to avoid it when it crashed into me and I fell over.

Max POV

I thought I saw something move up ahead, but I wasn't sure because it was pitch black, just like everything else right now. It was really dark out, even though I swore from the inside of the School it was daytime.

Anyways, it moved again and then I saw that it was a person running. I angled downwards, thinking it was an Eraser coming to attack us, when right before I slammed into his face I realized it was Fang.

"OW!" I yelled out as I was knocked out of the air and sent tumbling across the ground, getting a mouth full of dirt. I spit it out, getting up and brushing my jeans off. Then, right ahead of me I saw Angel and Nudge staring at me in awe. Iggy ran up next to me, probably listening to the situation and trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Max! Iggy!" Nudge and Angel yelled in unison, charging towards me and Ig. They wrapped their arms around me and hugged me, thinking I was the real Max. Ew, did I need to really go through this? I think I could deal with out the hugs and tears. But, if this was what would let me be safe in the flock, I would deal.

Angel pulled away with her grin shifting into more of a frown. "Max?" She asked, seeming doubtful of me. _Oh, shit, what now?_

Nudge pulled away to. Suddenly, Angel frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Nudge asked.

"That isn't Max." Angel spat bitterly, pulling back her fist and thrusting it towards me. How did she know? I dodged out of the way, but knocked into Fang again as he tried to get up. He looked at me, realized who I was, and then smiled. Slightly.

"Max!" He said, but then Angel tried to punch me again. I held her arms back, and she struggled against my grip.

"Fang, that's not Max!" Angel yelled at him. Seriously, how the hell did this kid know? Fang didn't ask any questions and lunged at me, knocking me back down onto the ground.

"No, please, I helped Iggy escape!" I yelled back, trying to kick Fang off of me, who was trying to pin me down. He looked momentarily confused but kept me pinned down.

Iggy POV

Okay, sometimes being blind was one of the most annoying things ever.

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked, hearing someone run and then someone being knocked to the ground.

"Well, uh, Angel thinks that, um, Max isn't... Max?" Nudge said from beside me, seeming confused.

"What do you mean? And what is going on, like who lunged at who?"

"Fang. At Max. Or whoever that person is, but she looks like Max." She clarified, and I got the picture.

"No, please!" The Max-Wanna-Be said, sounding strained. "I... want to... help!_ Please get off of_ _me!"_

"Guys, she helped me escape! Get off of her!" I yelled, trying to help in some way, or at least stop the physical fighting.

Then the field got silent, except for the sound of someone getting up.

"_Who are you?" _Fang asked sternly, sounding annoyed and irritated.

"Max. Er, well, Max 2. The School made me to replace Max in your flock, but she died, so their plan wouldn't necessarily work without the real one, but I escaped with Iggy and I wanted to come with you guys-"

It got silent again, and I knew that it was because Fang held up a finger telling her to stop. "Slower, please."

She said it again, slower and more clearly.

Fang POV

I decided if we should let her stay with us or not. How would it turn out? Does she still work for the School, and she was just lieing about escaping and it was all just a plan of the School? Or was she telling the truth?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Angel, scan her please." I said quietly, trying to cool off.

Then Angel concentrated on Max 2, scanning her brain for anything that was bad. "She's telling the truth."

After a moment of hesitating, taking in all the possibilities that could go on, I turned to Max 2. "You can stay with us." I told her. "But I'm still the leader. Got it?"

She nodded her head eagerly, and I smiled. Now we were all together- sorta'.

I took off into the air, thinking about Max. The original one, not the clone.

_I miss you, Max._

**_The End_**


End file.
